News Roundup 11 April 2023
Apr 11, 2023 • 4 min Read
Philippines highlights need for ‘more vital voices’ in push for multilateralism | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines stressed the importance of multilateralism – or countries banding together for the benefit of many – and opening up spaces for “more vital voices” in ensuring inclusivity and, at the same time, resillience in the global posture.
This is important especially at a time when there are constant changes to the geopolitical structures around the world and with entities trying to undermine global stability.
“The Philippines has always endeavored to make multilateralism more constructive, more inclusive, and fair. In our region, as it is in the world, it is important that the future is determined by the interest and agency of many, not by one, two, or a few powers,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said in a forum early Tuesday, Manila time.
Manalo is currently in Washington DC for the 2+2 ministerial dialogue along with Defense Officer-in-Charge Carlito Galvez Jr., as they are set to meet with their American counterparts to discuss more opportunities for cooperation between the two countries. This, just as the annual Balikatan or the simulated war games formally began back home.
Full Story at: Philippines highlights need for ‘more vital voices’ in push for multilateralism | Philstar.com
Balikatan 2023 to test cyber security defense, hold live fire drill | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — As the Philippine-US alliance further develops along with the times, so do the threats the decades-old treaty partners’ must face and prepare for — and this means paying attention to cybersecurity threats and furthering capacities when it comes to defense strategies.
This year’s Balikatan exercises formally opened on April 11. Simulated war games will be held in North and Central Luzon, Palawan, as well as in Antique. Among this year’s main events is holding a cyber defense exercise, which will be held just as both the Philippines and the US’ military forces continue to modernize its capabilities.
The new exercise will also address what MGen Eric Austin, US exercise director representative, said is the “changing character of warfare.”
“The cyber defense exercise is more for us in the Philippine side to develop our cyber defense capabilities,” MGen Marvin Licudine, Philippine military exercise director, said in a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.
“We are not yet technically proficient on cyber defense, our systems are not that yet proficient so we [aim] to learn from the better ones, we learn from our counterparts so that’s how we develop our cyber defense capabilities in the near-future.”
Licudine said the Philippines also hopes to develop its own cybersecurity defense experts, who will then one day help other nations develop their own capabilities.
Full Story at: Balikatan 2023 to test cyber security defense, hold live fire drill | Philstar.com
Marcos: New Edca sites to strengthen PH defense | INQUIRER.NET – The four new locations under the Philippines’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the United States would not be used for “any offensive action” but for “the defense of our territory,” President Marcos said on Monday.
The President gave that assurance when asked about Beijing’s concerns regarding the four new Edca sites—three of them a good distance from Taiwan, as the Chinese Embassy here and the Chinese Foreign Ministry both recently noted.
China rejects Taiwan’s claim as a sovereign nation after the communist takeover of the Chinese mainland in 1949.
The island has since developed into a separate democracy, amid China’s threat to retake it, while Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has recently sought to reaffirm Taiwan’s ties with the United States.
Full Story at: Marcos: New Edca sites to strengthen PH defense | Inquirer News
Teen yields P120,000 worth of ‘shabu’ in Taguig City buy-bust – police | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Authorities said that a 16-year-old boy was arrested early Tuesday in Taguig City for allegedly yielding crystal meth, locally known as “shabu”, worth P120,360.
In a report, the Southern Police District (SPD) said the suspect who was only identified as Jericho was collared during a buy-bust operation conducted at around 1:30 a.m. in Barangay New Lower Bicutan.
Police said they seized 10 heat-sealed sachets of suspected shabu valued at P120,360 and the marked money used in the drug sting from the minor.
INQUIRER.net has reached out to the SPD to ask about the police unit where the teenager is currently held in custody. But they have yet to respond to the query as of this writing.Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, a child above 15 years but under 18 years of age “shall be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program, unless he or she has acted with discernment.”
